Euromusic Song Contest 2016
The Euromusic Song Contest 2016 will be the 8th edition of the annual Euromusic Song Contest. The contest will be hosted by Germany for the second time following Johannes's victory in the 2015 edition with his song "Grande amore". Depending on the final number of participants, the contest may consist of semi-finals alongside the final, as had been done with a format of two semi-finals and a final since 2009. At the Heads of Delegations meeting held on 16 March 2015 in Germany, it was announced that the preliminary dates for the two semi-finals are 6 and 8 June, with the final on 10 June 2016. These dates may be subject to change. This will be the second time Germany hosts the contest. Presenter(s) On 12th August the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Rundfunkanstalten Deutschland (ARD)/ Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) will decide who will host this year the 8th Euromusic Song Contest. 'Ian Somerhalder' Ian Joseph Somerhalder (born December 8, 1978) is an American actor, model and director. He is known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in The CW's supernatural drama The Vampire Diaries.In the summer of 2000, Somerhalder starred in the short-lived WB series Young Americans, a spin-off of Dawson's Creek. He played Hamilton Fleming, the son of the dean of a prestigious boarding school. In 2002, Somerhalder played bisexual character Paul Denton in Roger Avary's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel, The Rules of Attraction, alongside James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, and Jessica Biel.Somerhalder was involved in the cleanup after the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling disaster on April 22, 2010. His efforts included cleaning of oiled wildlife and taping public service announcements to let the public know how they could help. Somerhalder also supports the St. Tammany Humane Society, an organization for animal shelter and welfare. On November 13, 2010, he hosted a Bash on the Bayou charity fundraiser for the Society. During the event, Somerhalder was presented with a donation of $11,100 by The Vampire Diaries fandom for his birthday project. 'Anke Engelke' Anke Christina Fischer (née Engelke; born 21 December 1965) is a German comedian, actress and voice-over actress born in Montréal, Quebec, Canada.Engelke moved to Cologne in 1971 with her parents. Early on, she exhibited singing talent, and was discovered in 1978 by Georg Bossert at a performance of her school's choir. From 1979 to 1986, she was the presenter of the daily children's television show broadcast from the Funkausstellung (a German radio exhibition, held every other year in Berlin), and the weekly children and youth's sports magazine show Pfiff. From 1978 to 1980, she hosted the show Moment mal (Wait a minute) on RTL. SWF3 first brought her on board in 1986 as an editor; later on, she was the presenter there until 1998. She has sung with Fred Kellner und die famosen Soul Sisters since 1989. Since 1993, she has been part of the SWF3-Comedy-Ensemble Gagtory. 'Justin Timberlake' Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He appeared on the television shows Star Search and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club as a child. In the late 1990s, Timberlake rose to prominence as one of the two lead vocalists and youngest member of NSYNC, which eventually became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. During the group's hiatus, Timberlake released his debut studio album Justified (2002), which included the successful singles "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body", and earned his first two Grammy Awards. His second record, FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), distinguished from his previous release by its wide-range of musical influences, debuted atop the US Billboard 200 and produced the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around". With his first two albums exceeding sales of 10 million copies worldwide, he was established as one of the most commercially successful singers of the decade. From 2008 through 2012, Timberlake focused on his acting career, effectively putting his music career on hiatus; he held starring roles in the films The Social Network, Bad Teacher, In Time, and Friends with Benefits. In 2013, Timberlake resumed his music career with his third and fourth albums The 20/20 Experience and The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2, exploring neo soul styles with the song structures of 1960s and 1970s rock. The former became the best-selling record of the year in the US with the largest sales week, and spawned the top-three singles "Suit & Tie" and "Mirrors", while the latter produced the top-ten song "Not a Bad Thing". Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2007 and 2013. Timberlake's work has earned him numerous awards, including nine Grammy Awards and four Emmy Awards, the latter being for his appearances on Saturday Night Live. His other ventures include record label Tennman Records, fashion label William Rast, and the restaurants Destino and Southern Hospitality. He won the 2014 Euromusic Song Contest in London. 'Tobias Santelmann' Tobias Santelmann (born August 8, 1980) is a German-born Norwegian actor. He is best known for starring in the 2012 film Kon-Tiki. He also co-starred in the 2014 film Hercules. 'Lena Meyer-Landrut' Lena Johanna Therese Meyer-Landrut (born 23 May 1991), known professionally as Lena (pronounced ˈleːna), is a German singer-songwriter. She represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo and won the contest with the song "Satellite". With her three entries from the German national final Unser Star für Oslo (Our Star for Oslo), Meyer-Landrut set an all-time chart record in her home country by debuting with three songs in the top five of the German singles chart. Both "Satellite" and her first album My Cassette Player debuted at number one in Germany, while the former has been certified double Platinum since, the album has been certified five times Gold for sales of over 500,000 units. Meyer-Landrut represented Germany for the second consecutive time in the Eurovision Song Contest at Düsseldorf in 2011 with the song "Taken by a Stranger". 'Johannes Strate' Johannes Starte (born 17 March 1980) in Bremen is a german singer. He Become known as a singer and frontman of teh band Revolverheld. He also won the 2015 Euromusic Song Contest in Switzerland. Semi-final allocation draw The draw to determine which country will participate in which semi-final will take place in Rotes Rathaus on 25 January 2016, hosted by Stefan Raab and Lena Meyer-Landrut.28 The first part of the draw will determine which of Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom will have to broadcast and vote in which semi-final. The second part of the draw will decide in which half of the respective semi-finals each country will perform, with the exact running order will be determined by the producers of the show at a later date. 18 countries will participate in the first semi-final, while 19 countries will participate in the second semi-final. From each semi-final, ten countries will join the BIG Six in the final, where a total of 26 countries will participate. The 37 semi-finalists have been allocated into 6 pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. The six pots were published by the EBU on 21 January 2016. Drawing from different pots helps in reducing the chance of so-called neighbour voting and increasing suspense in the semi-finals. Israel, who had been allocated to Pot 6, will compete in the second semi-final as the first semi-final coincides with Yom Hazikaron, while Germany will broadcast and vote in the second semi-final for scheduling reasons. Location For more details on the host country, see Germany The event will take place in Berlin, Germany, with the venue being the O2 World Berlin, after Germany won the right to host this edition of the Euromusic Song Contest for winning its previous 2015 edition with the song "Grande amore" performed by Johannes Strate. The O2 World Berlin has a capacity of approximately 14,800 attendees. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Rundfunkanstalten Deutschland (ARD)/ Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) announced on 24 May, a day after the 2015 edition's final, that their first choice as host arena for the Eurovision was the Lanxess Arena in Cologne. However, other cities and arenas were still able to apply; those making a bid had approximately three weeks to submit their offer to ARD/NRD. An announcement from the broadcaster regarding the venue was expected by mid summer and on 8 July 2015 the O2 World Arena was announced as the host venue. 'Bidding phase' Arbeitsgemeinschaft Rundfunkanstalten Deutschland (ARD)/ Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) announced the conditions under which cities and venues had announced their interest in hosting the 2016 contest: *The host city had to provide a certain number of hotels and hotel rooms to be found in the vicinity of the stadium. *The arena had to be able to offer lodges adjacent to the stadium. *A press centre had to be available at the stadium that will have a specific size. *ARD/NDR had to have access to the host venue at least 4–6 weeks before the broadcasts, in order to build the stage, rigging lights and all the technology. *The host city had to be close to a major airport. Format The preliminary dates were announced at the Head of Delegations meeting, held on 16 March 2015 in Zürich. The semi-finals being on 6 and 8 June 2016, and the final on 10 June 2016. These were subject to change depending on ARD/NRD, but were later confirmed during the announcement of the chosen host city. Discussions between the EBU and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) were held in 2014, regarding the inclusion of performer from the ABU TV Song Festival as a guest star at the Euromusic Song Contest. In July 2015, the EBU confirmed that they are looking into the possibility of the proposal that was discussed at the ABU General Assembly meeting in 2014. ARD/NRD has also been in discussions surrounding moving the start time of the event up an hour from 21:00 CET to 20:00 CET; ARD/NRD staff believed that such a change would help to promote family viewing of Euromusic, as the broadcast would not run as late into the night—especially in Eastern Europe. On 23 September 2015, it was announced that the "Big Five" and the host nation would perform in the semi-final in which they are allocated to vote in, but will remain as automatic finalists. These performances will consist of pre-recorded rehearsal footage instead of music video clips which were previously used. The core team for the 2016 contest were announced in October 2015, by the EBU and ARD/NRD. Martin Österdahl and Johan Bernhagen will be the executive producers for the contest, with Sven Stojanovic as the director. Head of production will be Tobias Åberg, whilst the contest producer will be Christer Björkman, who is known for his role as the Swedish Head of Delegation. Wildcard(s) Last time in 2012 we had the wildcards for wich songs will sing the lucky onces. In 2016 this lottery is returning. Two wildcards will be given in each semi-final and one in the Grand Final: * Greece (Semi-Final 1) * Sweden (Semi-Final 1) * Belgium (Semi-Final 2) * Serbia (Semi-Final 2) * Germany (Grand Final) - '''USED' Participating countries On 26 November 2015, it was announced by the EBU that forty-three countries would be represented in the 2016 contest. Bosnia and Herzegovina will return after a three-year absence, Bulgaria and Croatia will return after two-year absences, and Ukraine will be returning after a one-year absence, whilst Portugal have withdrawn. All applicants had until 10 October 2015 to decide whether to withdraw their applications without facing a financial fee. 'Semi-Final 1' France, Estonia and Spain will vote and perform in this semi-final. 'Semi-Final 2' Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom will vote and perform in this semi-final. 'Finalist(s) Returning artists Other countries For a country to be eligible for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, it needs to have a broadcaster that has an active EBU membership, which will be able to broadcast the contest via the Eurovision network. Forty-three countries confirmed their participation,26 whilst the following list of countries declined stating their reasons as shown below. '''Active EBU members * Andorra — The Andorran broadcaster Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (RTVA) confirmed that Andorra would not return to the contest in 2016. * Lebanon — Tele Liban had not ruled out participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, stating in an email "We are not sure yet, however we are working on it and will keep you updated". The broadcaster was, however, not on the final list of participants for the 2016 edition. * Luxembourg — RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg (RTL) confirmed on 4 September 2015 that Luxembourg would not be debuting to the contest in 2016. * Monaco — The Monegasque broadcaster Télé Monte Carlo (TMC) confirmed that Monaco would not debuting to the contest in 2016. * Portugal — The Portuguese broadcaster, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), had been encouraging their followers to suggest changes for their national selection, assuming they had chosen to participate in the 2016 contest. The Portuguese have failed to qualify for the grand final since 2012, and the majority of the Portuguese public have been under the impression that it is because of the country's current selection format, Festival da Canção. Cristiano Ronaldo's sister, Kátia Aveiro, had also launched a Twitter campaign asking fans to back her bid to represent Portugal. But later, on 7 October 2015, it was announced that Portugal would withdraw from the contest, while RTP also stated that the selection format would be undergoing restructuring and that it looked forward to return to the competition in 2017. On 7 November 2015, in the program Voz do Cidadão, RTP's viewer provider, Jaime Fernandes, stated that Portugal's withdrawal was also due to the shallow results in the previous contest, as well as the broadcaster's rather insufficient promotion of the music-related content. * Slovakia — Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) returned the Eurovision Young Dancers 2015, and the decision for Slovakia to come back to the contest had been explained by the broadcaster as supporting domestic production and promoting national culture at a European level. At the end of September 2015, the Slovakian national broadcaster confirmed that Slovakia would not return to the contest in 2016. * Turkey — Despite some information announcing a Turkish return to the contest, on 2 October, the EBU announced that the Turkish broadcaster, Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), had yet to decide on its participation. However, on 3 November 2015, TRT announced that they would not participate in 2016. The reason being that their requests hadn't been taken into consideration effectively and the EBU hadn’t changed anything yet. Require EBU membership * China — Chinese provincial television channel Hunan Television confirmed its interest in participating in the Euromusic Song Contest. The EBU responded saying "we are open and are always looking for new elements in each Euromusic Song Contest". However, on 3 June 2015, the EBU denied that China would participate as a guest or full participant in 2016. * Faroe Islands — The Faroese publication Portal reported on 9 June 2015 that the local broadcaster, Kringvarp Føroya (KVF), had explored Euromusic participation in 2010, by applying for active EBU membership, but it was rejected due to the islands being part of the Danish Realm. The education minister of the islands, Bjørn Kalsø, supported participation, saying, "the justification so far has been that the countries have to be acknowledged by the United Nations as independent in order to participate. But there is no doubt that we could easily overstep those barriers, if we’re absolutely determined to reach this goal ... it is completely up to Kringvarpið ... to renew the application regularly, and show the EBU that the Faroe Islands are an equal match to other countries when it comes to participation in the Euromusic Song Contest. * Kosovo — The Foreign Minister of Kosovo tweeted that his country (not recognised by fifteen states in Europe and still not an active member of the EBU) will participate in the 2016 Euromusic Song Contest, making its début. The tweet said that the foreign minister is confirming participation but cannot say how. However, on 3 June 2015, the EBU denied that Kosovo would compete in 2016, as the national broadcaster, Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK), has neither an associate nor active membership. * Liechtenstein — The first national television broadcaster of Liechtenstein, 1 Fürstentum Liechtenstein Television (1FLTV), confirmed that the nation will not be able to make its début in Stockholm, due to lack of funds to join the EBU.